In late October, my granddaughter will turn two years old. Lennon Kate, as we call her, has been the best and brightest light in our family and the love is even more than I ever realized. Perfection is what I call her and this is shared by any grandparent when it comes to their grandchildren.
My Little Little, as I call her now, loves to dress up as a princess and get into her high chair and eat dinner. The pictures just melt me in every way possible. As I was talking to my wonderful son-in-law one night, he said he would call me later as Lennon was getting ready for dinner. I hung up and got sad.
Sad because I miss those days of putting my kids in that high chair and eating with them. Mainly because they couldn’t get away, but we had some great conversations as well. Then it would be bath time and that was always an adventure as all parents know. You follow that with story time, then a prayer, then lights out. I cannot tell you how many nights I fell asleep with kids in the bed reading to them.
I miss that.
Then, I would stumble my way back to bed, only to be awoken the next morning with sounds of tiny feet on the hardwoods sprinting into the bedroom and dive bombing on the bed. Followed by more reading, tickles, kisses, laughter and on and on.
I miss that.
The laughter from their rooms, followed by, “Daddy, come here?” Whatever it was, I made it seem as if it was the most amazing thing God had ever put in their hands. I would ask a million questions and they would ramble and ramble, followed by more laughter. I would read books to them in different voices and for some reason, my son loved my Hannibal Lechter voice. He had no idea who or what that was, but it always made him laugh.
I miss that.
Now the house is quiet. The silence is louder than anything else. The pitter-patter is no longer heard, replaced by a creak or the A/C coming on. The laughter in the bedroom only echoes in the chambers of my heart. The high chair has been long sold and I pray whoever has it realizes how amazing it is. The memories are simply fantastic but as we know, memories don’t text back.
I am truly grateful for every second with kids as they were growing up and everything that went with being a parent.
I miss that.
